DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification
The amendment to the specification filed on 12/23/2024 is acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 16 is indefinite because the limitation of “wherein a three-dimensional data type constructed by the second subvolume identification information, the second secondary volume identification information and the second secondary end controller identification information does not record all logical subvolume information, only records logical subvolume information that needs to be adjusted” is unclear.
Claim 17 is indefinite because the limitation of “finding, by the primary end when transmitting the data to be backed up, a secondary end controller identifier as the second secondary end controller identification information in the three-dimensional data type according to a logical volume identifier as the second secondary volume identification information and a logical subvolume identifier as the second subvolume identification information” is unclear.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
With respect to claim 20, the claim is directed to a nonvolatile computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program. However, applicant does not describe or provide any substantial evidence in the specification that the cited “computer-readable storage medium” is “non-transitory machine-readable storage medium.” Thus, it can be interpreted as carrier wave signals, transitory, propagating signals which do not fall within any category of statutory subject matter. Thus the claims are considered directed to non-statutory subject matter. See MPEP § 2106.
It is suggested to add “non-transitory computer readable storage media” to the claim device for statutory subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-17 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nagata et al. (US 20080301385 A1) in view of Sugitani et al. (US 20070094357 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Nagata discloses a method of backing up data ([0092]: a method for copying data between primary and secondary volumes asynchronously), comprising:
acquiring load information of each of secondary end controllers, respectively ([0013]: the storage controller including… a load monitor unit for monitoring the state of loads on each control unit; [0103]-[0110]: The core 18A (18B) starts… as shown in FIG. 10… for the primary and secondary volumes and acquires the identification numbers for the controllers 6A (6B) and cores 18A (18B) allocated respectively to the primary and secondary volumes (SP1))… the core 18A (18B) acquires data for the state of a load on that core 18A (18B);
allocating, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, each of secondary end logical subvolumes obtained by pre-division to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers, to obtain secondary end subvolume configuration information ([0022]: FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an allocation management table; [0068]-[0079]: As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the controllers 6A and 6B manage the storage areas in the local memories 14A and 14B by dividing the storage areas… Load Dispersion Feature… Configurations for Various Tables);
However, Nataga does not explicitly teach “synchronizing the secondary end subvolume configuration information to a primary end, to enable the primary end transmit, according to the secondary end subvolume configuration information, each piece of data to be backed up to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers; and processing, by each of the secondary end controllers, respectively received data to be backed up, to complete data backup at a secondary end”.
On the other hand, in the same field of endeavor, Sugitani teaches
synchronizing the secondary end subvolume configuration information to a primary end, to enable the primary end transmit, according to the secondary end subvolume configuration information, each piece of data to be backed up to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers (Fig. 18; [0265]-[0271]: data of the main and sub logical volumes of the pair are synchronized with each other… After the relevant pair is set in the synchronous mode, the switching controller 201 transmits pair configuration information to the device link manager 103 of the host 100); and
processing, by each of the secondary end controllers, respectively received data to be backed up, to complete data backup at a secondary end (FIGS. 19A and 19B; [0271]-[0274]: the primary logical volume of the relevant pair is changed to a secondary logical volume, and the secondary logical volume is changed to a primary logical volume… Thus, the pair switching processing has been completed).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teaching of Nataga to incorporate the teachings of Sugitani to include synchronizing the secondary end subvolume configuration information to a primary end, and processing received data to complete data backup at a secondary end.
The motivation for doing so would be to balance access loads, as recognized by Sugitani ([Abstract] of Sugitani: According to the control method, when performance information of a controller exceeds a predetermined threshold, the logical volume assigned to the controller is assigned to another controller other than the controller. Thus, access loads on a storage system used in a network environment are balanced).
Regarding Claim 2, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 1.
Sugitani further teaches wherein the allocating, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, each of secondary end logical subvolumes obtained by pre-division to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers, to obtain secondary end subvolume configuration information comprises:
allocating, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, each of the secondary end logical subvolumes obtained by pre-division to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers, to obtain an allocation result ([0106]-[0013]: FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the volume pair state management table 205… FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams of logical volume assignment processing to a disk controller according to the embodiment of this invention);
generating, according to the allocation result, IO paths corresponding to each of the secondary end controllers respectively ([0037]: When there are a plurality of usable paths, the device link manager 103 selects a path to balance access loads, and assigns I/O to the path);
acquiring identification information of each of the secondary end controllers, respectively ([0118] Further, in the example of FIG. 6, 2, a storage system 2, a VOL 2, a sub, and 1 are respectively registered as the ID 601, the storage 602, the logical volume 603, the primary/secondary 604, and the pair volume ID 605 (line 612)); and
generating the secondary end subvolume configuration information according to each of the IO paths and the identification information of each of the secondary end controllers (Figs. 2, 6, 18; [0076]-[0077]: The host storage connection state management table 204 is used to manage physical configurations of the host 100 and the storage system 130… [0268]: the switching controller 201 transmits pair configuration information to the device link manager 103 of the host 100 (1804). In this case, the pair configuration information includes information to identify the primary and secondary logical volumes of the relevant pair).
Regarding Claim 3, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose method according to claim 2.
Nagata further teaches before acquiring load information of each of the secondary end controllers, respectively, further comprising:
acquiring a quantity of the secondary end controllers (Fig. 7; [0089]: The `secondary LU number` entry 45CD stores the number of secondary volumes (i.e., pool volumes) with which the relevant logical volume forms a snapshot pair);
performing subvolume division on a secondary volume according to the quantity of the secondary end controllers, to obtain the secondary end logical subvolumes ([0068]-[0072]: As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the controllers 6A and 6B manage the storage areas in the local memories 14A and 14B by dividing the storage areas into three separate storage areas,); and
allocating each of the secondary end logical subvolumes to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers to obtain initial subvolume ownership information, and synchronizing the initial subvolume ownership information to the primary end; the allocating, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, each of the secondary end logical subvolumes obtained by pre-division to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers comprises (Figs. 5-6; [0072]-[0079]: The shared areas 32A and 32B respectively store allocation management tables 43A and 43B):
judging, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, whether to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information ([0113]-[0120]: After that, the core 18A (18B) judges whether or not the average usage rate of that core 18A (18B) itself for the previous three minutes calculated in step SP11 fulfills predetermined first conditions for changing the allocation (SP12)); and
in a case where it is judged, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information, adjusting the initial subvolume ownership information according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers ([0120]: Subsequently, the core 18A (18B) selects, from the logical volumes allocated to that core 18A itself, a candidate logical volume for allocated core change to the core selected in step SP15).
Regarding Claim 4, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 3, wherein the judging, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, whether to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information comprises:
Nagata further teaches acquiring, according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, a load difference value between a secondary end controller with a maximum current load and a secondary end controller with a minimum current load ([0126]-[0128]: Subsequently, the core 18A (18B) calculates, based on the scores calculated in step SP16, the core usage rate in each logical volume… that the core usage rate in the logical volume is closest to half of a difference between the core usage rate of the core that has been allocated to the logical volume and the core usage rate of the core to be the destination of the allocation change); and
Additionally, Sugitani teaches judging whether the load difference value exceeds a preset threshold ([0086]: It should be noted that the CPU usage rate is measured by the storage controller 137 of each storage system 130; [0130]: When a CPU usage rate in one of the disk controllers 131 exceeds a predetermined threshold, the storage controller 137 may transmit an alert to the management server 110 through the IP network 150).
Regarding Claim 5, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 3.
Sugitani further teaches after adjusting the initial subvolume ownership information according to the load information of each of the secondary end controllers, further comprising:
recording first subvolume identification information of an adjusted secondary end logical subvolume, first secondary volume identification information of a secondary volume to which the adjusted secondary end logical subvolume belong, and first secondary end controller identification information of a secondary end controller to which the adjusted secondary end logical subvolume belong; and generating the secondary end subvolume configuration information according to the first subvolume identification information, the first secondary volume identification information and the first secondary end controller identification information ([0077]-[0087]: Specifically, information regarding logical volumes 135 making a pair is registered in the volume pair state management table 205. The volume pair state management table 205 will be described below in detail by referring to FIG. 6).
Regarding Claim 6, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 3.
Nagata further teaches wherein the performing subvolume division on a secondary volume according to the quantity of the secondary end controllers comprises:
acquiring a preset secondary end logical subvolume size ([0144] FIG. 12A shows… an ID for the login target storage device 4A-4D, a port ID for the relevant storage device 4A-4D, and frame size, in the shared areas 42A and 42B in the local memories 14A and 14B respectively); and
performing subvolume division on the secondary volume according to the secondary end logical subvolume size ([0068]: As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the controllers 6A and 6B manage the storage areas in the local memories 14A and 14B by dividing the storage areas into three separate storage areas);
the allocating each of the secondary end logical subvolumes to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers comprises: sequentially numbering each of the secondary end logical subvolumes starting from 1, to obtain a number of each of the secondary end logical subvolumes ([0068]-[0072]: FIGS. 4A and 4B show the memory structure in the local memories 14A and 14B in the 0.sup.th and 1.sup.st controllers 6A and 6B, respectively);
obtaining a remainder when the number of each of the secondary end logical subvolumes is divided by the quantity of the secondary end controllers, as a remainder result corresponding to the number of each of the secondary end logical subvolumes; and allocating each of the secondary end logical subvolumes to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers according to the remainder result corresponding to the number of each of the secondary end logical subvolumes ([0121]: The above candidate may conceivably be selected by using a method calculating the usage rate of the core 18A (18B) for each of the logical volumes allocated to the relevant core 18A (18B) (=(processing time for each logical volume/monitoring time)) (hereinafter referred to as a "core usage rate") and choosing the logical volume with the largest core usage rate).
Regarding Claim 7, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claims 3.
Nagata further teaches after synchronizing the initial subvolume ownership information to the primary end, further comprising:
receiving a subvolume hotspot data statistical result sent by the primary end ([0123]: More specifically, the core 18A (18B) converts, based on the following formula, the core usage rate in each logical volume allocated to that core 18A (18B) itself into a score (SP16));
judging, according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, whether to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information ([0113]: After that, the core 18A (18B) judges whether or not the average usage rate of that core 18A (18B) itself for the previous three minutes calculated in step SP11 fulfills predetermined first conditions for changing the allocation (SP12));
in a case where it is judged, according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information, adjusting the initial subvolume ownership information according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, to obtain target subvolume ownership information ([0120]: Subsequently, the core 18A (18B) selects, from the logical volumes allocated to that core 18A itself, a candidate logical volume for allocated core change to the core selected in step SP15); and
Additionally, Sugitani teaches synchronizing the target subvolume ownership information to the primary end ([0265]: data of the main and sub logical volumes of the pair are synchronized with each other).
Regarding Claim 8, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 7.
Sugitani further teaches wherein the adjusting the initial subvolume ownership information according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result comprises: allocating each of hotspot logical subvolumes to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers in a balanced manner according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result ([0037]-[0043]: when there are a plurality of usable paths, the device link manager 103 selects a path to balance access loads, and assigns I/O to the path… The storage manager 113 is software for monitoring access loads, and executing path addition, switching, or the like to balance access loads).
Regarding Claim 9, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 7.
Sugitani further teaches wherein the adjusting the initial subvolume ownership information according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, further comprising:
recording second subvolume identification information of an adjusted secondary end logical subvolume, second secondary volume identification information of a secondary volume to which the adjusted secondary end logical subvolume belong, and second secondary end controller identification information of a secondary end controller to which the adjusted secondary end logical subvolume belong ([0077]-[0087]: Specifically, information regarding logical volumes 135 making a pair is registered in the volume pair state management table 205. The volume pair state management table 205 will be described below in detail by referring to FIG. 6); and generating the target subvolume ownership information according to the second subvolume identification information, the second secondary volume identification information and the second secondary end controller identification information ([0106]-[0119]: FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the volume pair state management table 205 according to the embodiment of this invention.).
Regarding Claim 10, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 7.
Nagata further teaches wherein the receiving a subvolume hotspot data statistical result sent by the primary end comprises: receiving the subvolume hotspot data statistical result sent by the primary end and obtained by performing, according to a data block granularity, hotspot data statistic on each of primary end logical subvolumes ([0122]-[0136]: Therefore, for selecting the candidate logical volume, this embodiment employs a method currently used by the performance monitor, i.e., calculating an approximate value for the core usage rate in each logical volume allocated to the core 18A (18B) from a proportion of the number of data inputs/outputs per second to/from each logical volume (SP16, SP17)).
Regarding Claim 11, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 2.
Sugitani further teaches wherein transmitting, by the primary end according to the secondary end subvolume configuration information, each piece of data to be backed up to corresponding one of the secondary end controllers comprises: transmitting, by the primary end according to the secondary end subvolume configuration information, each piece of the data to be backed up to the corresponding one of the secondary end controllers according to a grain granularity via an IO path corresponding to the corresponding one of the secondary end controllers respectively (Fig. 1; [0131]: In the description below, when the management server 110 transmits/receives an instruction, data, or the like to/from the host 100 or the storage system 130, the transmission/reception is executed through the network I/F 114 and the IP network 150; Fig. 2; [0230]-[0233]: the switching controller 201 may transmit an instruction of storing assignment information for correlating the relevant logical volume 131 with the second switching disk controller 131 to the storage system 130… Specifically, the switching controller 201 transmits an instruction of copying the data to the storage system 130).
Regarding Claim 12, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 11.
Sugitani further teaches wherein the transmitting, by the primary end according to the secondary end subvolume configuration information, each piece of the data to be backed up to the corresponding one of the secondary end controllers according to a grain granularity via an IO path corresponding to the corresponding one of the secondary end controllers respectively comprises: transmitting, by the primary end according to the secondary end subvolume configuration information, each piece of the data to be backed up to the corresponding one of the secondary end controllers according to the grain granularity by using a service- time strategy via an IO path corresponding to the corresponding one of the secondary end controllers respectively (Fig. 1; [0131]: In the description below, when the management server 110 transmits/receives an instruction, data, or the like to/from the host 100 or the storage system 130, the transmission/reception is executed through the network I/F 114 and the IP network 150; Fig. 2; [0230]-[0233]: the switching controller 201 may transmit an instruction of storing assignment information for correlating the relevant logical volume 131 with the second switching disk controller 131 to the storage system 130… Specifically, the switching controller 201 transmits an instruction of copying the data to the storage system 130)).
Regarding Claim 13, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 1.
Sugitani further teaches wherein the secondary end subvolume configuration information comprises a correspondence between each of the secondary end logical subvolumes and each of the secondary end controllers (Fig. 5; [0103]: Further, a VOL 1 and a VOL 2 are registered as corresponding assigned volumes 504 (line 511); [0275]: Accordingly, in the example of FIGS. 19A and 19B, a pair constituted of the VOL 1 and the VOL 2 corresponds to a relevant pair).
Regarding Claim 14, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 6.
Sugitani further teaches before acquiring a preset secondary end logical subvolume size, further comprising: presetting a division granularity for performing subvolume division on a logical volume, wherein the division granularity is configured to represent a size of the secondary end logical subvolume ([Abstract]: According to the control method, when performance information of a controller exceeds a predetermined threshold, the logical volume assigned to the controller is assigned to another controller other than the controller; [0005]: the first processor determines whether or not performance information of the first controller exceeds a predetermined threshold; and assigns the logical volume assigned to the first controller to the second controller by the first processor when the performance information of the first controller exceeds the predetermined threshold).
Regarding Claim 15, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 1.
Sugitani further teaches wherein the processing, by each of the secondary end controllers, respectively received data to be backed up, to complete data backup at a secondary end comprises: performing, by each of the secondary end controllers, a reading and writing operation on one or more secondary end logical subvolumes corresponding to each of the secondary end controllers, to complete data backup at the secondary end ([0056] The memory 133 stores the software executed by the CPU 132. The memory 133 of the embodiment stores at least a program (not shown) for executing data writing or reading according to a received access request).
Regarding Claim 16, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 9.
Sugitani further teaches wherein a three-dimensional data type constructed by the second subvolume identification information, the second secondary volume identification information and the second secondary end controller identification information does not record all logical subvolume information, only records logical subvolume information that needs to be adjusted, and records a node identifier as a group identifier of a group of IO paths, wherein the node identifier is an identifier of a secondary end controller to which an adjusted secondary end logical subvolume of which the logical subvolume information needs to be adjusted belongs, the group of IO paths exist between the primary end and the secondary end controller to which the adjusted secondary end logical subvolume of which the logical subvolume information needs to be adjusted belongs ([0037]: When there are a plurality of usable paths, the device link manager 103 selects a path to balance access loads, and assigns I/O to the path. When a path that has been used cannot be used any more due to a failure or the like, the device link manager 103 assigns I/O to another usable path).
Regarding Claim 17, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 16.
Sugitani further teaches after generating the target subvolume ownership information according to the second subvolume identification information, the second secondary volume identification information and the second secondary end controller identification information, further comprising:
finding, by the primary end when transmitting the data to be backed up, a secondary end controller identifier as the second secondary end controller identification information in the three-dimensional data type according to a logical volume identifier as the second secondary volume identification information and a logical subvolume identifier as the second subvolume identification information ([0069:] According to the embodiment, each logical volume 135 is identified by a unique logical volume identifier in each storage system 130. The storage system of FIG. 1 includes three logical volumes 135. Logical volume identifiers of the logical volumes 135 are respectively "1", "2", and "3"), if the secondary end controller identifier is found, sending the data to a group of IO paths corresponding to a secondary end controller identified by the secondary end controller identifier for transmission, and if the secondary end controller identifier is not found, transmitting the data according to the initial subvolume ownership information ([0037]: When there are a plurality of usable paths, the device link manager 103 selects a path to balance access loads, and assigns I/O to the path. When a path that has been used cannot be used any more due to a failure or the like, the device link manager 103 assigns I/O to another usable path).
Regarding Claim 19, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose an apparatus of backing up data, comprising: a memory, configured to store a computer program; and a central processing unit, configured to, when executing the computer program, implement steps of the method of backing up data according to claim 1 (Fig. 1; [0032]: The host computers 2A and 2B are computers, more specifically personal computers, workstations, mainframes, or similar, having information processing resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memory).
Regarding Claim 20, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose a nonvolatile computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program ([0057]-[0059]: Examples of the storage devices 4A-4D include a disk array of hard disk drives… Storage devices used in the storage devices 4A-4D may also be semiconductor memory such as flash memory, or optical disk devices; [0046]: The local memories 14A and 14B are used for storing various control programs), wherein when the computer program is executed by a central processing unit, steps of the method of backing up data according to claims 1 are implemented (Fig. 1; [0032]: The host computers 2A and 2B are computers, more specifically personal computers, workstations, mainframes, or similar, having information processing resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memory; [0046]: The local memories 14A and 14B are used for storing various control programs; [0010]: plural controllers are provided in a storage controller apparatus as described above and data is copied between logical volumes; ([0092]: … a method for copying data between primary and secondary volumes asynchronously).
Regarding Claim 21, the combined teachings of Nagata and Sugitani disclose the method according to claim 4.
Nagata further teaches after synchronizing the initial subvolume ownership information to the primary end, further comprising:
receiving a subvolume hotspot data statistical result sent by the primary end ([0123]: More specifically, the core 18A (18B) converts, based on the following formula, the core usage rate in each logical volume allocated to that core 18A (18B) itself into a score (SP16));
judging, according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, whether to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information ([0113]: After that, the core 18A (18B) judges whether or not the average usage rate of that core 18A (18B) itself for the previous three minutes calculated in step SP11 fulfills predetermined first conditions for changing the allocation (SP12));
in a case where it is judged, according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, to adjust the initial subvolume ownership information, adjusting the initial subvolume ownership information according to the subvolume hotspot data statistical result, to obtain target subvolume ownership information ([0120]: Subsequently, the core 18A (18B) selects, from the logical volumes allocated to that core 18A itself, a candidate logical volume for allocated core change to the core selected in step SP15); and
Additionally, Sugitani teaches synchronizing the target subvolume ownership information to the primary end ([0265]: data of the main and sub logical volumes of the pair are synchronized with each other).
Conclusion
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/S.D.H./Examiner, Art Unit 2168
/CHARLES RONES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2168